Last Tuesday, Google had their annual event, this time titled "#madebygoogle." Beforehand, Google has put out various posters and billboards in random places to announce the event. Many rumors have been going around for months beforehand stating what will be at the event, in full detail. What was rumored was Google's announced Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones, which will succeed to the Nexus 5X and 6P from last year.
At this event, only the hardware announcements were made, which were to be expected. One of the hardware announcements were the Pixel phones which were just mentioned. These devices, unlike the 5X and 6P, are the same on both devices, just the size and battery are different. The previous devices were different devices completely. Like the first Android and Nexus devices, the HTC Dream (T-Mobile G1) and the Nexus One, the Pixel and Pixel XL are manufactured HTC. However, unlike the Nexus devices, the manufacturer 's branding and input was not put into these devices, due to Google trying to take control of their hardware this year. The phones are supposed to be joining the "Google Pixel" lineup, alongside the Chromebook Pixel and Pixel C tablet, however, the Pixel does not support the Pixel Lightbar found in the other Pixel devices, and are the only ones not manufactured by Google itself. The Pixel is possibly supposed to compete directly with the iPhone 7, however, critics are stating it looks to much like the iPhone SE, however, in reality, they are nothing alike. The actual name of this phone is stated to be "Pixel, Phone by Google," however, many of us will just shorten it to Pixel.
The next item of hardware announced was the Daydream View. It is unheard of the manufacturer, however, we believe it to be Google themselves. Because the name of "daydream" is already used within the Android system for the screensaver, that function will be renamed starting in the Android 7.0 Nougat update. The actual piece of hardware is said to be starting at $79 as of November of this year. The phone partners involved in this project include Samsung, HTC, LG, Huawei, Ziaomi, Asus, ZTE, and Alcatel. The partners will be helping by producing Daydream-ready phones in the future. The Daydream View will eventually replace the Google Cardboard at its release. Although Google has stated this will start the Android VR revolution, Samsung earlier this year has already released the Samsung Gear VR, which was co-developed by Oculus. This will work similarly to the Gear VR, in the since that you put a compatible Android phone into it to work. Unlike the Gear, it will come with a remote, which will help boost the VR experience.
Google Wifi was also announced during the event. We are to assume this will replace the Google OnHub routers which were provided from Google for a few years now. Although, in the video showed during the event, it said a medium sized house would need two of these routers, a large with over three. They are small routers which can support a very fast connection, however, Google said that in order to get the best connection everywhere in your house, you'll need more than one. The Google Wifi will be controlled by your phone, and each of them in your house can all send out the same WiFi name, so there's not 3 different networks in your own home. The app also will allow you to connect to a different router, in case one fails to connect you to the World Wide Web.
Next is the one which Google briefly mentioned before the event, the Chromecast Ultra. This device is one of the only ones without a true predecessor, however, I consider it's predecessor to the the Asus-manufactured Nexus Player. The Chromecast Ultra, unlike previous models, does not host the "Chrome" logo, yet, Google's current logo. It has the same shape as the previous model, however, is a bit thicker do to some improvements. The price has jumped from the average $35 advertising price, which has made the Chromecast popular, to a new price of $79, which is about two-times the original price. This is due to 4K resolution capabilities, as well as those from HDR and HDR+. It is stated by Google that it will load 1.8 times faster than the other model generations. Ethernet is now officially supported, with the power adapter now hosting an Ethernet port built-in. The built-in hardware has also gotten an update with the newest hardware, similar to those in the 2nd generation.
Google Home was the next, and last, big hardware announcement made at the event on Tuesday. This was originally announced during the Google I/O event from this year, with the ability to control your house from a simple saying of, "Hey Google." However, the new video supplied by Google for the new Google Assistant is back to, "OK Google." Google Assistant will be supplied on Google Home as your new voice assistant. Assistant will be replacing Google Now in many platforms after the launch, including in Android and Chrome. The abilities of Assistant on this piece of hardware are unknown to also be the same as Assistant on Allo or Android 7.1 Nougat. Little about this device is know at the moment.
This is what we have learned from the Google event on October 4th, 2016. More information will be supplied by Google in the following weeks to come. The release dates of a majority of these devices are unknown. Will this be the start of a new generation of Google hardware, or a failed attempt or reinventing common technology?
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